The present invention relates to a digital video tape recorder and, more particularly, to apparatus for recording a digital video signal which allows for the simultaneous monitoring of an input analog video signal or an input digital video signal which is digitally recorded on a record medium.
Analog video tape recorders are known to record analog video signals on a magnetic tape in analog form and to provide the video signal as an output signal so that the analog video signal may be monitored, e.g., viewed on a television monitor.
Digital video tape recorders are known to convert an analog video signal into a digital video signal and then to record the digital video signal on a magnetic tape. The recording and reproduction of digital video signals is more advantageous than the recording and reproduction of analog video signals because the picture quality of the reproduced digital video signal will not deteriorate through multiple dubbings. Moreover, error correction by way of digital processing further minimizes errors in recorded and reproduced digital video signals. However, the monitoring of digital video signals while they are being recorded cannot be accomplished merely by supplying the digital video signal to an output terminal. Digital video signals generally are transmitted on a digital serial interface line admitting of one data format while analog video signals admit of a second data format.
Further, a video signal to be recorded in digital form may be supplied as either a digital video signal or as an analog video signal whose formats, even after the analog signal is converted to digital form, are not the same. Current digital video tape recorders do not include the capability of recording video signals admitting of both of the above-mentioned data formats while providing an output signal that allows a user to monitor the video signals being recorded.